Every 90s kid has undoubtedly had a round or two with Crash Bandicoot. They may have also realized a little later on that the games were frustrating, yet unique to their time. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time by Toys for Bob, has smashed the 90s with the 2000s to create a refreshing game filled with what we already love about Crash.
Crash and his sister Coco get sent through time in this adventure and travel through all types of neat places. This game picks up right where Warped left off (which was one of my favorites) and adds some new skills and new places while keeping the same cheesy villains we already know and love. Uniquely in this game as well, you can choose to play as Crash or Coco based on your preference without switching any move sets. The additions to the abilities is just one of the things that make the game feel new again.
As you travel through cities in the sky, the land of the dinosaurs and crazy lava areas, the platforming remains the same but adds some new skills. Crash can now get Quantum Masks and unlock some new abilities throughout the levels. One ability allows you to slow down time, which is helpful for areas with fast moving objects, another allows you to run along the ceiling, and a third gives you the ability to float through spaces like a tornado. Learning this can be challenging at first for people that have bonded with the original game, but it gets easier.
The developers also narrowed in on current technology and really worked out the controls. Controlling your character is almost too good. Everything seems to react quicker which makes platforming somewhat difficult if not timed right. So if you fail, then you just have to go back and do it all over again. This means redoing the reverse camera levels too (a lot of anxiety with these). Although this can be annoying, experiencing the new levels is really fun and worth repeating a couple times.
Overall, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is the same cheeky game we know and love with some new things put in. Technology finally caught up and let the developers make the game what it always should have been. Grab the kids, grab the family, and have fun playing on the PS4 or the Xbox One.
9/10
Available on Xbox and PS4